Blue Trust Inc. Has $59,000 Stock Holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 40.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 781 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $59,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in Granite Construction by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,651,676 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $232,579,000 after purchasing an additional 263,302 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Granite Construction by 35.1% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,131,419 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $99,237,000 after purchasing an additional 294,200 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in Granite Construction by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 584,398 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $51,813,000 after purchasing an additional 15,597 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Granite Construction by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 580,584 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,923,000 after purchasing an additional 105,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Granite Construction by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 579,384 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,818,000 after purchasing an additional 87,783 shares in the last quarter.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

NYSE:GVA opened at $91.35 on Friday. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 1 year low of $58.23 and a 1 year high of $105.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $86.06 and a 200-day moving average of $84.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.06 and a beta of 1.34.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The construction company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.43) by $0.44. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.07% and a return on equity of 21.40%. The company had revenue of $699.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $706.15 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 3,617 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.38, for a total value of $290,734.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 132,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,639,579.08. This trade represents a 2.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.76, for a total transaction of $185,814.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 18,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,726,831.44. This represents a 9.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,432 shares of company stock worth $699,804. Insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Granite Construction Profile

Granite Construction Incorporated operates as an infrastructure contractor in the United States. It operates through two segments: Construction and Materials segments. The Construction segment engages in the construction and rehabilitation of roads, pavement preservation, bridges, rail lines, airports, marine ports, dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, infrastructure, and site development for use by the public and water-related construction for municipal agencies, commercial water suppliers, industrial facilities, and energy companies; and construction of various complex projects, including infrastructure/site development, mining, public safety, tunnel, solar storage, and power related projects.